The Pentagon has been drawing up contingency plans to send several thousand National Guard troops to Chicago as soon as next month, according to a Washington Post report. The move would extend President Donald Trump’s campaign to deploy troops in large U.S. cities after stations in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, where the administration says crackdowns on crime and homelessness are under way. Illinois officials rejected the prospect as unlawful and unnecessary. Governor JB Pritzker said the state had received no federal request for assistance and called the proposal an attempt to “manufacture a crisis.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson described the idea as “uncoordinated, uncalled for and unsound,” warning that any unilateral military presence could inflame tensions and prompt a legal challenge. City data show shootings have fallen 36% and homicides 31% so far this year, figures the mayor says undercut the argument for emergency intervention. Both leaders stressed that the governor—not the White House—controls activation of the Illinois National Guard, a position echoed by legal analysts who note that a unilateral federal deployment would likely be contested in court. The White House has not publicly detailed the scope or timing of a Chicago mission. Trump told reporters last week that the city was a “mess” and would probably be his administration’s next target. Pritzker and Johnson said they are preparing legal options should the administration proceed without state consent.